[OSList] Amazing poem for Harrison posted on Facebook!

[Chris Corrigan via OSList]

This is pretty funny, clever and tender hearted.

Much like its subject. 

Chris


> On Dec 8, 2015, at 9:47 AM, Jeff Aitken via OSList <oslist at lists.openspacetech.org> wrote:
> 
> This fun and touching poem for Harrison was just put on Facebook by Rodney B. Plimpton. Enjoy.
> 
> "A few old time friends gathered in DC to celebrate Harrison's 80th last week, and toasted him with this:
> 
> To Harrison H. Owen on his 80th Birthday
> 
> On December Second, Nineteen Thirty Five,
> Harrison Owen did arrive.
> No way that his parents could have known,
> The fruits of the seeds that they had sown.
> Early on he seemed a normal boy,
> Though he preferred catching skunks to playing with toys.
> But then Seminary, a stint as a biblical scholar?
> Clearly not chasing the Almighty Dollar!
> Community Organizer, way down in Dixie;
> Peace Corps in Liberia, where things were quite tricxy.
> Then back to DC, NIH, and VA;
> A strange game indeed,that he chose to play.
> Biblical Studies and Bureaucracy in the heart of the Nation
> Combined in his head as Organizational Transformation!
> After hosting some conferences that were way too much work,
> He woke up one day, and said “I’m such a jerk!;
> While agendas and details all keep me awake
> The things people come for are good coffee breaks!”
> From that realization, however belated,
> His famed Open Space soon was created
> From a simple experiment, thirty years ago,
> The phenomenon has continued to grow
> Now, thirty years, and nine books later,
> It’s world-wide success could not be greater.
> Self-Organization is at its’ core,
> But Harrison’s message says so much more:
> We’ve all been taught that Management’s Role
> Is to Plan, Organize, Direct, and Control –
> That’s all wrong, said this radical boy
> Envision, Engage, Empower, Enjoy!
> The paradox is -- by controlling the least
> You get both High Performance and a true sense of Peace.
> Results speak for themselves, and by any measure,
> Harrison’s thinking has become a World Treasure.
> But what of the man whom we know as our neighbor;
> Modest, laid back, full of stories to savor?
> On high seas he commands the Ethelyn Rose,
> But on land who commands nobody knows!
> One thing is for certain, we love and adore
> This world-famous guru -- our good friend next door.
> 
> Congratulations, Harrison, on your 80th; you done good."
> 
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